Saint Michael: Early Anglo-Saxon Tradition/The Saint Michael Text in Corpus 41

In laudem Sancti Michaelis

[1] Men ða leofestan, us is to ƿorðianne ⁊ to mærsianne seo ȝemind þæs halȝan heahenȝles Sancte Michaeles, se ƿæs ƿundorlic  ærendraca   ðæs   ælmihtiȝan

5 	dryhtenes. Eac sƿilce nu todæȝe þam ȝetriƿum folce he ƿæs inlihted ⁊ ȝebirhted. Forðon ðonne, men ða leofestan, blission ƿe ⁊ ȝefeon in pisne simbelnisse dæȝ þæs halȝan  heahenȝles

10	Sancte Michaeles, se is on hefenum ȝecƿeden sƿa sƿa Ȝod sylfa. A ȝehyron ƿe for þon sinderlice drihtnes ...

[2] He is efenrixiende; he is sƿiðe mihtiȝ mid þam heahenȝlum  þa  standað  dæȝes  ⁊

15	nihtes beforan þrymsetle dryhtnes; se is eallra haliȝra fultum, ⁊ he is reccend eallra haliȝra saula, ⁊ he is nerȝende Ȝodes folces, ⁊ he is stronȝ on ȝefeohte ƿið ðane miclan dracan, sƿa hit saȝað her

20	on Pocalipsis  þære  bec. Blission ƿe on heofonas ⁊ on ða þe on heofnum sint, forðon ðe Sanctus Michael he is stronȝ feohtend ƿið þone miclan dracan, þæt is ðonne, ƿið ðam  aƿyrȝedum  ȝæstum. On

25	þisne heahenȝel ƿe sculon ȝelyfan ⁊ biddan us on fultom on æȝhƿilcere frecennesse þam Cristenum folce.

In praise of St Michael

[1] Most belovèd brethren, it behoves us to honour and to celebrate the memory of the holy archangel St Michael, who was the wonderful messenger of the almighty lord. Moreover, it was on this very day that he was illuminated and made bright to the faithful. Therefore, most belovèd brethren, let us exult and rejoice upon this feast day of the holy archangel St Michael, who is called in heaven like unto God himself. Let us ever give ear because of the lord's special ...

[2] He is a fellow ruler; he is very mighty among the archangels who stand day and night by the throne of the lord; he is the helper of all holy men, he is the governor of all holy souls, he is the saviour of God's people, and he is strong in battle against the great serpent, as it says here in the book of the Apocalypse. Let us rejoice in heaven and in those who are in heaven, for St Michael is a strong fighter against the great serpent, that is, further, against the accursèd spirits. We must trust in this archangel and pray to him for succour in every danger to Christian people.

______________________________________ 5	todæȝe] to dȝe

8	þisne] corrected from earlier þisse

11	A] ae; ȝehyron] corrected from earlier ȝehyren; compare blission and ȝefeon in line 6

12	drihtnes] followed by a blank space sufficient for 8 or 9 letters

13-14	mid þam] þam

18	is] ‘is’

20	bec] béc

22	ðe] with e on erasure of two letters; originally ðon?

23	dracan] drácan

26	fultom] fultō with ō from earlier ū and followed by erasure of m; æȝhƿilcere] æȝehƿilcere

[3] Ðis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michael  se ƿæs  andfenȝo  Abeles  saule

30	þæs ærestan martires ðone his broðor Cain for æfstum ofsloh.

[4] Ðis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michael se is hæleða healdend; ⁊ dryhtne fultumendum hira feorh he ȝenerede, þæt

35	ƿæs þonne, Noe ⁊ his suna þry ⁊ hira feoƿer ƿif in þam micelan flode.

[5] Ðis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael þæs ȝemynd ƿe nu todæȝe ƿorðiaþ, se ƿæs  Abrahames    onlysend   þæs  heah-

40	fæderes ofer Caldea þeode, cumende drihtne fultumendum, ⁊ he ƿæs latteoƿ þam ðrym heahfæderum Abrahame ⁊ Isace ⁊ Iacobe þurh ða ælðydiȝan land ⁊ ða uncuðan   ƿeȝas;  he ƿæs  him  simle

45	onƿeard fultum on æȝhƿilcere frecydnesse.

[6] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael se ƿæs ferende on Eastron þurh Israela hus ⁊  Eȝypta; ⁊  Eȝypta  frumbearn  he

50	ofsloh, ⁊ Israela bearn he ȝefryðode.

[3] This is the holy archangel St Michael who was the receiver of the soul of Abel the first martyr whom his brother Cain slew out of envy.

[4] This is the holy archangel St Michael who is guardian of men; and with the help of the lord he saved the lives of Noah, his three sons, and their four wives in the great flood.

[5] This is the holy archangel St Michael whose memory we honour today, who was the deliverer of Abraham, patriarch over the people of the Chaldees, coming with the lord's help, and he acted as guide to the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through foreign lands and unknown ways; he was always a present help to them in every danger.

[6] This is the holy archangel St Michael who went at Easter through the houses of the Israelites and of the Egyptians; he slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, but passed over the children of Israel.

______________________________________ 33	hæleða] hæleda

34	fultumendum]  fultūmendum

35	þonne]  þōn

37	is] ís

38	todæȝe ƿorðiaþ] todæȝe

39	onlysend] ónlysend

40	þeode]  þéode

40-41	cumende drihtne] cumende

43	Isace] isáce; Iacobe] iacóbe

49	⁊ Eȝypta; ⁊ Eȝypta] ⁊ eȝypta once only

[7] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael se ðe drihtne fultumendum þæt Cristene folc mid his ȝescyldnisse in þam ƿestene feoƿerti ƿintra he hit ferede ⁊ fedde.

[8] 55	Ðis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael se ȝesiȝefæsted stod beforan Cananisca cinne, ⁊ þurh Iosues handa þæt Israelica folc he ȝelædde to þam ȝehatlande þæt is floƿende hunie ⁊ meolce.

[9] 60	Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael ⁊ se æþela forestihtend in þæra cræftena handa þe Salamones templ timbredon.

[10] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael se ƿæs   stronȝ   scyldend   þam   þrym

65	cnihtum þa ƿæron sende in ofen birnendes fires. ⁊ he þa him bistod se enȝel ⁊ snitera ȝast he dihtode in hira muð þæt ƿæs þonne se halȝa “Benedicete.”

[7] This is the holy archangel St Michael who with the lord's help guided and nourished the Christian people with his protection in the wilderness for forty years.

[8] This is the holy archangel St Michael who stood triumphant before the people of Canaan, and led the people of Israel at the hands of Joshua to the promised land which is flowing with milk and honey.

[9] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the noble director of the hands of the craftsmen who built Solomon's temple.

[10] This is the holy archangel St Michael who was the powerful protector of the three youths who were cast into the furnace of burning fire. And then the angel stood by them, and he, the wise spirit, composed in their mouth what was then the holy “Benedicite.”

______________________________________ 52	fultumendum] fultūmendū

53	ȝescyldnisse] ȝesylnisse

56	Cananisca] canonica

57	Iosues] iobes

61	þæra] from earlier þære

62	timbredon] with i and first part of m on erasure

66	fires] fíres

[11] 70	Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael ⁊ se æþela scyldend ƿið deofles sƿipor-nesse. Sƿa se ƿiteȝa sæȝde, þæt þæt deofol þohte þæt he sceolde ȝelæran þæt folc þæt hi ƿorðodon  Moyses  lichaman

75	for Ȝod for his fæȝernesse. Ða cƿæð him to se halȝa enȝel, “Ic ðe beode, mid mines drihtnes ƿorde, þæt ðu þæȝe þristnesse ne ȝedo þæt ðu his folc ne ȝescildiȝe.”

[12] 80	Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael 	se ðe   a   onƿeard    fultum    þurhƿunode drihtnes ƿitiȝan mid him in æȝhƿilcere stoƿe.

[13] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael

85	þam dryhten befæste Sancta Marian saule æfter hire forðfore, ⁊ he hi him bebead.

[14] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael se ðe anra ȝehƿilces soðfæstes mannes saule ȝelædeð þurh þa ȝatu þæs ecan lifes

90	to hefena rice.

[15] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sancte Michael se ðe anra ȝehƿilces haliȝes mannes bene ȝelæteð in dryhtnes ȝesyðe, ⁊ he his hiredes ȝeƿyrht  mid  frofre  he  him  eft

95	toforlæteð.

[11] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the noble protector against the cunning of the devil. According to the prophet, the devil thought that he should instruct the people to glorify the body of Moses instead of God because of its beauty. Then the holy angel said to the devil, “I command thee, with the authority of my lord, not to carry out this act of presumption nor make his people guilty.” [12] This is the holy archangel St Michael, who ever remained as a present help for the lord's prophets and [remained] with them in every place.

[13] This is the holy archangel St Michael to whom the lord entrusted St Mary's soul after her death when he committed her to him.

[14] This is the holy archangel St Michael who leads the soul of each and every true man through the gates of eternal life into the kingdom of heaven.

[15] This is the holy archangel St Michael who places the prayers of each and every holy man in the company of the lord, and afterwards with words of comfort forgives him the transgressions of his household.

______________________________________ 75	Ȝod] Ȝód

81	a] á

82	drihtnes] ⁊ drihtnes

88	soðfæstes] soð‘fæstes’

89	ecan] écan

90	rice] ríce

[16] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michael ⁊ se snotora dihtend ðære cynelecra husa; ⁊ he is se ȝetreoƿa hierde ðære halȝan heofonlican ceastre.

[17] 100	Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl ⁊ se ȝleaƿa londbiȝenȝa ðæs  cynelican ƿinȝerðes se ðe ðisne ȝetreoƿne ȝedeð; ⁊ þa berian he ȝesamnað, ⁊ ða ƿirrestan he ut  aƿirpð, ⁊   ðane ƿæstm   þæs   ȝodan

105	ƿinȝerdes he aȝifeð his hlaforde. Hƿæt sindon þa berian ðe he þær samnað? Þæt sindon haliȝra manna ⁊ soðfæstra saula.

[18] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl se ȝoda  hirde  ðæs  dryhtenlican  eoƿdes,

110	se ðe  ne  læteð  ƿulf  ne ðeof  naneƿuht ȝeƿirdan on his hlafordes heorde.

[19] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl ⁊ se ȝesundfulla saƿend Cristes æcera, ⁊ se ƿæstmberenda  riftere   ðæra   hƿitra

115	ðeodlanda se his hlafordes bernas ȝefelleð mid þy clænestan hƿæte, ⁊ ða eȝelan ⁊ ða fulnesse ut aƿorpeð, nymðe ðæt sindon ða soðfæstan ðe he ascadæt fram ðam sinfullum saulum.

[16] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the wise ruler of royal houses; and he is the trusty guardian of the holy heavenly city.

[17] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the skillful cultivator of the royal vineyard who keeps it in order; he gathers the grapes, throws away the corrupt ones and gives the fruit of the good vineyard to his lord. What are the grapes which he gathers there? They are the souls of holy and faithful men.

[18] This is the holy archangel St Michael the good shepherd of the lord's flock, who permits neither wolf nor thief to do any injury to his lord's herd.

[19] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the prosperous sower of Christ's fields, the fruitful reaper of the bright regions who fills his lord's barns with the purest wheat and throws out the awns and the impurities, save that those are the true souls that he separates from the sinful ones.

_______________________________________ 98	ȝetreoƿa] ȝetr‘e’oƿa

101	londbiȝenȝa] lodbiȝena

103	berian] beorȝasƿirrestan] ƿilestran

113	ȝesundfulla] ȝesun‘d’fulla

114	ƿæstmberenda] ƿæsmtberenda

115	bernas] berna‘s’

[20] 120	Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl ⁊ se ȝetreoƿa  þeoƿ þane  dryhten  ȝesette

ofer ealne hiƿscipe, þæt he him mete sealde on ða rihtan tid. Hƿæt is se mete nymðe ðæt he sceal on Domesdæȝe anra

125	ȝehƿelcum men his dæda edlean forȝildan?

[21] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl ⁊ þæt  beorhte  tunȝel  þæt  bið ascinende dæȝes ⁊ nihtes on hefonum betƿexh ðam

130	ȝæstelicum tunȝlum beforan ðam ȝod-cundan cyninȝe.

[22] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl ⁊ se æðela noƿend ⁊ se ȝleaƿa frumlida ⁊ se  þancƿirðesta  stiȝend,  se  ðe  his  scip

135	ȝefelleð ⁊ mid heofonlicum ƿælum hit ȝefylleð, þæt is ðonne, mid þam  halȝum

saulum; ⁊ mid ðy ƿryȝelse ðære ȝod-cundan ȝefillnesse ofer þæs sæs yðe he hit  ȝelædeð,  þæt  is  ðanne,  ofer  ðisses

140	middanȝeardes frecennesse, ⁊ þa haleȝan

saula ȝelædeð to  þære  yðe ðæs  heofon- cundan lifes.

[20] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the faithful servant whom the lord appointed above all his household so that he might give them food at the due season. What is the food, save that he is destined on the Day of Judgment to grant every man the recompense he has merited?

[21] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the bright star which shines forth by day and night in heaven among the spiritual stars in the presence of the divine king.

[22] This is the holy archangel St Michael the glorious ship-master, the skillful pilot and the most renowned sailor, who fills his ship and fills it with heavenly dead, that is, with holy souls; and under the veil of divine fulfilment he guides it over the waves of the ocean, that is, through the dangers of this earthly world, and leads the holy souls to the sea of the heavenly life.

______________________________________ 123	sceal] s‘c’eal

125	edlean] edl‘e’an

129	betƿexh ðam] betƿexh ða

130	ȝodcundan] ȝodcund‘a’n with final n from o by erasure; another letter erased above the n

135	ȝefelleð] ȝefylleð with f partly altered to s by erasure

138	ȝefillnesse] ȝefill‘n’esse

[23] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl se ðe com on  fultum þam Crystenan, sƿa

145	hit sæȝð in Actum Apostolorum, þæt on  sumere ceastere ðære nama ƿæs Træleȝ ⁊ æȝhƿelce ȝeare hæðen here  ayddon  ða  ceasterƿare. Ða ȝecƿædon ða ceasterƿare him betƿeonum ðreora daȝa fæsten, ⁊ þa

150	þæt fæsten ȝeendod ƿæs, ða  com  him  to  Sanctus Michael, ⁊ he ƿæs to ȝefeohte ȝearu. Ða stod he  ofer  ðæs  ceasteres  buruȝate, ⁊ hæfde him liȝen sƿeord on handa, ⁊  he aflimde ða  elðeodiȝan sona

155	þæt hi fluȝon on oðer   ðeodland  ⁊  hi  næfre  ma  ðær oðeoƿdon. [24] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl ⁊ se mycila mundbora se nu todæȝ his stoƿe ætyƿde on eorðan þæt men sceolden

160	hi ðær dæȝhƿamlice dryhten ƿeorðian.

[23] This is the holy archangel St Michael who came to the assistance of the Christians, as it says in the Acts of the Apostles, in a certain town whose name was Træleg and whose townspeople a heathen army oppressed every year. Then the inhabitants of the town agreed among themselves on a fast of three days, and, when the fast was ended, St Michael came to them, ready for battle. Then he stood over the town's main gate, holding a flaming sword in his hand, and he straightway put the strangers to flight so that they fled to another country and nevermore appeared there.

[24] This is the holy archangel St Michael and the great protector who on this very day showed his place on earth so that men should daily glorify the lord there.

_______________________________________ 144	com] cóm; Crystenan] with erasure of one letter above the a

148	ceasterƿare] with erasure of one letter after the first r

149	betƿeonum] betƿ‘e’onū

160	ðær] ðære

[25] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl se ðe ær ðisse ƿorulde ende ofslihð þone ealdan feond þæt is se micla draca se ðe æt  frymðe  middanȝardes ȝesceapen ƿæs

165	to ðam beorhtestan enȝle; ac he selfa hit forƿorhte mid ði he cƿæð, “Ic hebbe min heahsetl to norðdæle, ⁊ ic beo ȝelic þam heahstan cyninȝe.” ⁊ þa ȝefeol he, ⁊ ȝehreas mid  his ƿerode  on  niƿulnesse

170	ȝrund, efene se illca Antacrist se ær ðisse ƿorlde ende cymeð on ðisne middanȝeard to ðam þæt he sceal ȝesamnian ða ðe his sindon. Þanne cymeð  Sanctus  Michael ⁊  hine  ofslihð,  forðon  ðe  he  hit  æfre

175	ȝeðohte þæt  he scolde  ȝelic beon ðan heahstan cyninȝe.

[26] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl se ðe on þam neahstan dæȝe ƿorulde ende ⁊ æt  þam  eȝesfullan dome he  ðonne ða

180	deadan  aƿeceð   mid   dryhtenes   hæse; beoruhtere stefene  he clipað ⁊ þus cƿið, “Surȝite! Surȝite! Arisað! Arisað!” ⁊ þonne arisað ealle ða deadan ðe eorðe forsƿealȝ, oððe  sæ   bescente,  oððe  fir

185	forbærnde,  oððe  ƿildeor   abiton,  oððe fuȝlas on lande tobæren, oððe ƿirmas on eorðan fræten.

[25] This is the holy archangel St Michael who before the end of the world will slay the ancient enemy that is the great serpent who at the creation of the earth was created brightest of the angels; but he himself forfeited this when he said, “I will lift up my throne to the north, and I shall be like unto the highest king.” And then he fell, and he landed with his troop in the depth of the abyss, the very same Antichrist who before the end of the world will come to the earth in order to assemble those who are his. Then St Michael will come and slay him, because he has ever thought that he ought to be equal to the highest king.

[26] This is the holy archangel St Michael who on the latter day at the end of the world and at the fearful judgment will then awaken the dead at the lord's command; in an exceeding glorious voice he will call out and will thus speak, “Surgite! Surgite! Arise! Arise!” And then will arise all the dead whom the earth swallowed up, or the sea drowned, or fire consumed, or wild animals devoured, or birds carried off on land, or worms gnawed in the earth.

_______________________________________ 166	ði] with i on erasure of e

168	heahstan] heahsta

170	ȝrund] ȝ‘ru’nd with a space for three letters below -ru- and erasure of one letter before n

172	þæt he sceal] þæt sceal

177	is] followed by erasure of one letter; Sanctus] Ss with from correction of ē; Michael] mihael

178	ƿorulde] ƿoru‘l’de

182	Arisað! Arisað!] áŕisað áŕisað

185	abiton] ab‘i’ton preceded by erasure of two letters (ab)

[27] Þis is se halȝa heahenȝel Sanctus Michæl se ðe ða ȝodan to life ȝelaðað ⁊ ȝelædeð,

190	⁊ þa yfelan on deað  bescenceð; ⁊  þonne ða halȝan saula to heofona rice he ȝelædeð, ⁊ þa ȝeomriendan he blisað, ⁊ þa ƿanhalan he ȝelacnað, ⁊ þa elðeodeȝan he afrefreð, ⁊  þam  ƿinnendum  he  ræste

195	forȝifð, lærnerum  ȝefean  he  ontyneð ⁊ þam lærrendum onȝit he ȝerumlæteð.

[28] Uton þonne nu, men ða leofestan, biddan we þone halȝan heahenȝel Sanctus Michael þæt  ura  saula  sie  anfenȝe ⁊ hi

200	ȝelæde  on   heofoncund   rice   to   þam dryhtene ðe lifað ⁊ rixað mid Fæder ⁊ mid Suna ⁊ mid þam Halȝan ƿaste in ealra ƿorlda ƿorld abutan ende, AMEN.

[27] This is the holy archangel St Michael who will summon and bring forth the good to life, and will give over the evil to be drowned in death; and then he will lead the holy souls into the kingdom of heaven, and he will gladden them that mourn, and he will heal them that are sick, and he will comfort the homeless, and he will grant rest to them that labour, he will discover joy to them that study, and he will extend understanding to them that teach.

[28] Therefore, most belovèd brethren, let us pray the holy archangel St Michael that he be a recipient of our souls and lead them into the heavenly kingdom to the lord, St Michael who lives and rules with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Ghost for ever and ever, world without end, AMEN.

_______________________________________ 188	Michael] mihael

193	ȝelacnað] ‘ȝe’lacnað

194	afrefreð] with first r from earlier f

196	ȝerumlæteð] ȝerū læteð

199	Michael] mihael

203	ƿorlda] ƿorla; abutan ende] abutan is one word in the MS but a butan ende is also a possible reading

Notes on the text
[1]	The earliest apparition of St Michael, on Mount Garganus, is variously given as AD 492, 494, or c. 530-540, although he made later appearances on other mountain tops. The Mount Garganus apparition became identified with both 8 May and 29 September. The legend may be found in Sabine Baring-Gould, Lives of the Saints V, p. 115. In Old English it may be found in Blickling Homily 17 and in Ælfric's homily 1.34 (36).

3, 6.	The preterites refer presumably to Michael's apparition on Mount Garganus.

5, 8-9.	The feast day likely refers to Michaelmas, 29 September.

11.	swa swa ȝod sylfa; Michael's name in Hebrew means ‘Who is like God?’ MS ae is likely a = ‘ever’ with -ȝe simply an anticipation of the ȝe- of ȝehyron, but aȝen = ‘again’ would also be possible.

12.	The space after drihtnes might perhaps be completed simply: for þon sinderlice drihtnes [lufan þisses heahenȝles].

[2]	This stanza virtually summarizes the functions of St Michael as set out above. Biblical sources are Daniel 10.13, 21; 12.1-3. Daniel 12.1-3 anticipates Matthew 24.21, Mark 13.19, and especially the passage referred to in the Old English, Apocalypse 12.7 ff. Thus the age of Antiochus merges specifically with that of the Antichrist, and this device of cross-reference links [2] with [25]-[28].

13. efenrixiende is a unique word. Translate ‘fellow-ruler’ to avoid the heresy of ‘equally powerful.’ The idea is that Michael replaced God as guardian of Israel and the Christian church in the final battle with Satan. Perhaps a preposition is wanting after mihtiȝ, perhaps ofer or mid; the text supplies mid = ‘among.’ The manuscript as it stands might mean vaguely ‘as regards the archangels.’

[3]	Some Apocryphal texts associate Michael with the story of Cain and Abel, e.g., the Vita Adae et Evae 21.2, where Michael announces the conception of Cain (Charles, p. 138), and the Apocalypsis Mosis 3.2 and Revelation of Moses where Michael announces the conception of Seth in Abel's stead (Charles, p. 139; and ANF 8, p. 565). The most direct reference is in the Revelation of Moses (ANF 8, p. 570):

And the Lord said: Let also the body of Abel be brought. And having brought other cloths, they (i.e., Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael) prepared it also for burial, since it had not been prepared for burial since the day on which his brother Cain slew him. For the wicked Cain, having taken great pains to hide it, had not been able; for the earth did not receive it.

[4] Compare the Book of Enoch 67.1-13, where Michael is implicated in God's promise to Noah (Charles, p. 231-2).

[5]	Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are associated with angels in Genesis at 16.7-14, 18.2 ff. (announcements of conception of sons of Abraham), 22.11-18 (Abraham's hand is stayed as he prepares to slay Isaac), 28.12 (Jacob's dream), and 31.11-13, 32.2 (Jacob meets with advising angels). Compare also the First Appendix to the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (Charles, p. 363):

But when Michael said unto Abraham our father, ‘Abram, whom doest thou choose, and whom wilt thou worship?’ Abram answered, ‘I choose and select only Him who said, and the world was created; Who formed me in the womb of my mother, body within body; Who placed in me spirit and soul; Him I choose, and to Him I will cleave, I and my seed, all the days of the world.’ (9.5)

Then the Most High dispersed the nations, and apportioned and allotted to every nation its share and lot. And from that time all the nations of the earth separated themselves from the Lord, blessed be He; only the house of Abraham remained with his Creator to worship Him; and after him Isaac and Jacob. (10.1-2)

40-1. cumende fultumendum: this is odd; supply drihtne before fultumendum, as in line 38, translating ‘coming with the lord's help.’ As it stands, the dative fultumendum is inexplicable.

[6]	Compare Exodus 11.1-8 and 12.29-30. There are no apocryphal sources for the attribution of the deed to Michael.

[7]	Accounts of the wanderings of the Children of Israel are given in Exodus 14-40; Leviticus; Numbers; Joshua 1-11.

[8]	Compare Joshua 5.14—‘As captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.’ The apparition of an angel called ‘captain of the host of the Lord’ guarantees divine aid in the attack on Jericho, and it is natural to suppose there is reference to Michael here. The story of Joshua and the promised land is contained in Joshua 10 and 11.

56.	While MS canonica is a legitimate OE word, it gives poor sense here, and there may be corruption of some word with the sense ‘of Canaan,’ such as Cananeisc (BT, p.144, from Genesis 9.18) or Cananisca (BT Supplement, p. 116, s.v. Cananeisc, from the Rushworth MS of Mark 3.18).

[9]	The biblical account of the building of Solomon's temple is to be found in I Kings 6.1-38, 7.1-51 and II Chronicles 2.1-5.1. There is no biblical or apocryphal attribution to Michael; indeed, according to the Greek Testament of Solomon of the third or fourth century, Solomon built his temple with the help of demons whom he had subdued. See Menner, op. cit., p. 23.

[10]	The biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is found in Daniel 3.19 ff. Compare Daniel 3.25: ‘Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’ It is not surprising that the fourth person was assumed to be Michael. Daniel 3.25 is followed in the Vulgate by the hymn of Azarias in the furnace (lines not found in the Authorised Version), Daniel 3.26-90. This is the famous ‘Benedicite,’ so called from the opening of every alternate line in verses 57-87.

It is interesting to note the description of the seal of the city of Aberdeen offered in Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, The Book of Public Arms (Edinburgh, 1894), p. 13: ‘And upon the reverse of ye Seall of ye said Burgh is insculped In a field azur a Temple argent St. Michaell standing in ye porch mytred & Vested proper with his dexter hand lifted up to heaven praying over three Children in a boiyling caldron of the first and holding in ye sinister a Crosier Or.’ The patron saint of Aberdeen is St Nicholas, not St Michael, who is also confused elsewhere with St George.

[11]	Tradition links Michael with many incidents in the life of Moses (based on Exodus) and the burial of Moses becomes an issue between Michael and Satan. The account of the burial of Moses in Deuteronomy 34.6 makes no mention of Satan or Michael, but compare Jude 9:

‘Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.’

Jude makes no mention of the worshipping of Moses, however, showing that both Jude and the OE text must be traced further back to a common source. According to Clement of Alexandria, Adumbrationes in Epistolam Judae and Origen, De Principiis III. 2.1, St Jude is quoting the apocryphal Assumptio Mosis 14. The story is no longer to be found in the fragment of the Assumption of Moses which has come down to us, but apparently Satan claimed the body of Moses because he slew the Egyptian (Exodus 2.12) and Michael resisted Satan's attempt to have the people venerate Moses as a god; Michael passed no hasty judgment on Satan but left his condemnation in God's hands.

MR James, The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament, (SPCK, London,1920), pp. 42-51, offers a collection of references to this work. On p. 43, James cites a reference to the text in the Spurious Acts of the Council of Nicea by Gelasius Cyzicenus, then quotes Origen: ‘The serpent in Genesis is represented as deceiving Eve, à propos of which, in the Ascension of Moses, a book mentioned by the Apostle Jude in his epistle, Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, says that the serpent, inspired by the devil, was the cause of the transgression of Adam and Eve.’ James then cites Clement of Alexandria, Origen on Joshua 2.1 and Evodius, writing to St Augustine, all of whom deal with a belief that Moses had one body which was committed to earth and another which was accompanied by angels.

Severus, Patriarch of Alexandria (542) is quoted in the Catena of Nicephorus on Deuteronomy 34 as saying:

God...ordained that at the burial of Moses there should appear before their eyes at the time of the dressing of the body and its due depositing in the earth the evil demon as it were resisting and opposing; and that Michael, a good angel, should encounter and repel him, and should not rebuke him on his own authority, but retire from giving judgment against him in favour of the Lord of all, saying ‘the Lord rebuke thee’...further, that when this heavenly image had come before their eyes, there came a cloud of light about the place which dazzled the eyes of the onlookers, and walled his grave off, so that they might not see it.

James quotes two other passages from Severus and points out (p. 46) that there are many references along the same lines in Catenae and marginal scholia in manuscripts. More interesting is a reference given by James (p. 47) to actual worship of Moses in a Greek source of Byzantine times, Palæa, ed. A Vassiliev, Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina (Imperial University, Moscow, 1893), p. 247:

Of the death of Moses. And Moses said unto Jesus (i.e., Joshua) the son of Naue, ‘Let us go up into the mountain.’ And when they were gone up, Moses saw the land of promise and said to Jesus, ‘Go down unto the people and tell them, “Moses is dead.”’ And Jesus went down unto the people, but Moses came to the end of his life. And Samael tried to bring down his body (tabernacle) unto the people, that they might make him a god. But Michael, the Chief Captain, by the command of God came to take him and bury him, and Samael resisted him, and they contended. So the Chief Captain was wroth and rebuked him, saying, ‘The Lord rebuke thee, devil.’ And so the adversary was vanquished and took to flight, but the Archangel Michael buried the body of Moses where he was bidden by Christ our God (and no man saw the burial of Moses).

Attention should be drawn to the verbal similarities with Zechariah 3.1-2: ‘And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”’ Note how Michael's threefold battle with Satan is spread throughout the OE text as a basic framework—[2], [11], [25].

75.	him refers to the devil.

77. þæȝe is a Late West Saxon borrowing from Old Norse þeir and is acc. sing. fem.; see A Campbell, Old English Grammar (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1959), p. 292, § 713.

[12] No specific source comes to mind.

81-3. This passage seems corrupt. As it stands, fultum must be a noun = ‘help(er)’; onweard can mean ‘active,’ and drihtnes witiȝan is dat. pl. (of advantage). But the ⁊ seems misplaced, and one would like another verb; ‘who ever remained as a present help for the lord's prophets and [remained] with them in every place.’ The MS makes weaker sense as it stands: ‘...who ever remained as a present help—and the lord's prophets with him (i.e., together with the lord's prophets)—in every place.’

[13] 	See Homily I in Corpus 41 (Grant, Three Homilies, pp. 33 and 41, lines 88 and 179):

Þa ætfæste se hælend þære haliȝan Marian saule Michaele þam heahenȝle, se is Neorxnaƿonȝes hyrde, ealdormon, Ebrea ðeoden... Bebead hi þa Michaele þam heahenȝle.

See also the two accounts of the Assumption in James, which refer to Christ bidding Michael have care of Mary's soul and bring her body into the clouds (pp. 224-5), and to Michael's rolling the stone from the sepulchre and bringing forth the soul of the Virgin (p. 216).

[14] See the references given above to Michael's care of the bodies and souls of the Virgin, Adam, Abel, Eve. Compare also the Vision of Paul 14, 25, 49 (ANF 9, 154, 158, 165), especially 25:

This is the way of the prophets, every one who shall have afflicted his soul and not done his own will because of God, when he shall have gone out of the world and have been led to the Lord God and adored him, then by the command of God he is handed over to Michael, and he leads him into the city to this place of the prophets, and they salute him as their friend and neighbour because he did the will of God.

[15] See the references given above to Michael interceding for mankind and receiving men's prayers. The most specific reference to his receiving the prayers of men and taking them before God is in III Baruch, 11.1-17.4 (Charles, pp. 539-41), especially 11.4: ‘Even now Michael, the commander of the angels, comes down to receive the prayers of men.’ Compare also III Baruch 14.2: ‘Michael is even now presenting the merits of men to God.’

93. ȝelæteð: this is taken to be lætan in BT's sense III (p. 613).

[16] The reference to Michael as ruler of royal houses is obscure, unless one assumes it is merely a reference to his guardianship of Israel and the house of David (Daniel 10.13, 21; 12.1-3). That the heavenly champion and the Lord's archistratege should be regarded as guardian of the heavenly city is not surprising. In III Baruch 11.1 f., Michael holds the keys of heaven: ‘We cannot enter until Michael comes, who holds the keys of the kingdom of heaven; but wait and thou shalt see the glory of God’ (Charles, p. 539). Compare also Apocalypse 9.1, Genesis 3.24.

There is a similar description of Michael as guardian of Sabaoth, one of the gates of heaven, in Corpus 41, p. 292, the homily on Doomsday: ‘Sanctus Michael se heahenȝelƿealdeð þære dura, ⁊ tƿa fæmnan hi healdað mid him, ða sindon nemde Eqitas, Estimatio; ða habbað byrnende ȝyrde on hira handum.’

[17] Compare Matthew 7.15-20 (especially 19-20) and John 15.1-2. While these Biblical passages appear to be the inspiration for this section, it should perhaps be pointed out that Michael is specifically associated with the Tree of Life in the Book of Enoch 24 and 25 (Charles, p. 204).

101.	MS ȝleawa lodbiȝena is emended here to ȝleawa londbiȝenȝa, but an alternative emendation would be ȝleawmod biȝenȝa.

103. ƿwilestran is taken here to be an error for ƿwirrestan as a contrast with ȝodan is implied, but ƿwinestran might have been intended in the sense ‘bad’ or ‘second best.’ BT, p. 1233, s.v. winestra records only ‘left’ or ‘left-hand,’ but BT, p. 1239, s.v. wirs records an instance of ‘left’ with the sense of ‘second best’: He bið on ðæt wynstre weorud wyrs gesceaden ðonne he on ða swiþran hond swican mote, ‘he will be assigned to the host on the left hand by a sentence too stern to allow him to pass to the right hand.’

[18] Compare Luke 12.32, 15.3-7, John 10.1-11, and Isaiah 40.11.

[19] Compare Matthew 13.3-43, especially 38-39:

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world;  ‘and the reapers are the angels.’

The association of Michael with this image may be based on III Baruch 12.1-8 in which Michael fills a vessel with baskets of flowers, which represent the merits of the righteous (Charles, p. 539).

The image of God as a conscientious landowner sending his only servant off to ‘do work that was the hardest and most exhausting possible’ is repeated by the mediaeval English mystic Julian of Norwich (c. 1342-c. 1416) in the fourteenth of her ‘shewings’ of 1373 as described in chapter 51 of her Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love of c. 1393. The servant was to be a gardener, digging and banking, toiling and sweating, turning and trenching the ground, watering the plants the while. And by keeping at this work he would make sweet streams to flow, fine abundant fruits to grow.... But its worth to him depended on the servant's careful preparation of it, and his setting it before him, personally. All around the master was nothing but wilderness.

Text from Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, trans. Clifton Wolters (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1982) as quoted by Ronald Blythe, Divine Landscapes (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Viking, 1986), p. 207. Blythe points out (p. 234) that ‘To the dying thief, [Christ] did not say, “Today you will be with me in the City of God,” but in “Paradise,” or God's safe garden.’

117. eȝelan is acc. pl. of eȝle, ‘awn,’ which is better attested in Middle than in Old English.

[20] Compare Matthew 24.45: ‘Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?’ (Also in Luke 13.42). On Michael as judge, see above, especially III Baruch 11-15 (Charles, pp. 540-1).

122. he, him, line 124 he—all pronouns with ambiguous antecedents, but obviously referring to Michael.

[21] On Michael in the presence, see above. No reference is known to be the direct source for [21], but the image of God and the angels as light or stars is a common one; compare, for example, Judges 5.20 and especially Isaiah 14.12-13: ‘How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.’

128. ascinende might be intended as a scinende, ‘ever shining.’

[22] Compare Matthew 13.47-50:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

As is pointed out in the introduction, Michael has control of the waters, gathers the merits of men in vessels to present them to God, and consigns the wicked to the fiery furnace.

134. stiȝend is rare in this sense.

135.	ȝefelleð: the scribe seems to have begun to alter f_to s_by erasure, but the erasure has not been fully carried out. ȝeselleð could make sense with the meaning ‘furnish,’ ‘supply’; one would then have to suppose that the scribe's eye fell to the following ȝefylleð in line 136 and copied ȝefelleð into line 135 in error.

wælum is taken to be fromƿwæl = ‘the slain,’ ‘the dead,’ but this noun is collective and therefore regularly singular; however, BT, 1152, has several examples of wæl meaning ‘one dead person,’ ‘a corpse.’ One might alternatively read ƿwelum = ‘riches.’

[23] It is strange that the writer should cite the Acts of the Apostles when referring to an incident and a place not mentioned in the biblical book or in any of the apocryphal Acts. It seems more likely that this is a reference to some lost Acta Sanctorum or Martyrology. Corpus 41 or its exemplar had access to a martyrology (25-31 December appears pp. 122-32) and Herzfeld, An Old English Martyrology, p. 182, provides an entry for 29 September, ‘Consecration of St Michael's Church,’ which reads:

On þone niȝon ond tƿenteȝðan daeȝ þæs monðes bið sancte Michahelis cirican ȝehalȝunȝ in Tracla þære ceastre. In Eraclæ þære mæȝðe feonda meniȝo com to þære. ceastre ond hy ymbsæton. Þa ceasterƿare þurh þreora daȝa fæsten anmodlice bædon ȝod fultumes ond bædon þæt he him þone ætyƿde þurh sancte Michahel. Þa þy þriddan dæȝe stod sanctus Michahel ofer þære ceastre ȝete ond hæfde fyren sƿeord in his honda. Þaƿæron þa fynd abreȝede mid þy eȝesan, ond hy ȝeƿiton onƿeȝ. Ond þa ceasterƿaraƿunedon ðesunde. Ond þærƿæs ȝetimbred sancte Michaheles cirice, ond seoƿæs ȝehalȝod on þone dæȝ þeƿe mærsiað sancte Michaheles ȝemynd.

This is very obviously the same story, and attention is drawn to the words ‘''in Tracla þære ceastre. In Eraclæ þære mæȝðe''.’ Corpus 196 reads ‘on traia’ and omits ‘in Eraclæ.’ On p. 236, Herzfeld offers a note on the name ‘Tracla,’ quoting pseudo-Jerome and Usuard who mention both Thrace (‘Tracia,’ ‘Thracia’) and Heraclea (‘Eracla,’ ‘Eraclia,’ ‘Heracleæ’) in the same clause. Compare also the Acta Sanctorum for 29 September which lists, along with Michael, ‘MM. in Tracia...S. Plautus, et forte S. Heraclea’ (Acta SS., Septemb. Tom. Oct., 1); a careless scribe could have run Tracia and Heraclea together to produce Tracla or Trala, the source of [23]'s Træleȝ. [It is purely coincidental that close to Skellig Michael is the town of Tralee.]

There is no verbal identity between the passages in Corpus 41 and the Old English Martyrology, but the similarity of the stories and the confusion of place-names suggest that both could well be different renderings of the same source in some Latin martyrology.

The town rescued by Michael in this wise was not Heraclea but Sipontum, protected against the Greek Neapolitans on 8 May, 663. This feast became confused with Michael's appearance on Mount Garganus, as shown above. But a further confusion attends the story told in Corpus 41 and the Old English Martyrology, for the motif of the flaming sword comes from yet a third legend, related in Francis Bond, Dedications and Patron Saints of English Churches (London, Humphrey Milford, 1914), p. 38:

In the next (sixth) century there was a great plague in Rome, and St Gregory, afterwards pope, for three days headed a procession through the streets, singing what were afterwards known as the Great Litanies. On the third day, when opposite the Mole or Mausoleum of Hadrian, Gregory beheld the archangel alight upon the Mole, sheathing a bloody sword, and the plague was stayed. In the ninth century a chapel dedicated to St Michael was built on the Mole.

The writer of Blickling Homily 17 (Richard Morris, ed. and trans., The Blickling Homilies of the Tenth Century, EETS, OS, nos. 58, 63, and 73, Oxford, 1874-80, pp. 201, 203), has Michael rescue the people of Sipontum after they observe a three days' fast, but there is no mention of the flaming sword, only of lightning: ‘Hƿilum se ilca ȝod sendeþ his enȝla ȝastas to ærendƿrecum, hƿilum he sendeþ þurh fyres leȝ.’

146. ⁊ is a relative here—see BT Supplement, p. 38, s.v. 'and' III.

147.	ayddon is taken to be from a-ieðan = ‘to lay waste, ravage, oppress.’

[24] There is no obvious source, but the preterite ætywde indicates that the reference is probably to Michael's appearance on Mount Garganus.

[25] Compare Apocalypse 12.7-8. Michael, protector of Israel (Daniel 10.13, 21; 12.1 ff.) and opposed to the Adversary, Accuser of Israel, is here the protector of the New Israel. Note that the Enthroned and the Child remain immobile; it is Michael who wages war on the dragon. See further the introduction and also Apocalypse 20.1-3, 7-8 in which the angel (Michael) binds and looses Satan. On the presumption, fall, and dwelling of Satan, see Isaiah 14.12-15. Further, in the Vita Adae et Evae 12-17 (Charles, p. 137), the devil tells Adam he refused to worship him and incurred the wrath of God and Michael by saying: ‘I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and will be like the Highest.’ Compare also the Secrets of Enoch 29.4 (Charles, p. 447), where God says: ‘And one from out the order of angels, having turned away with the order that was under him, conceived an impossible thought, to place his throne higher than the clouds above the earth, that he might become equal in rank to my power.’ It is at this point in the Old English homily that the meaning of Michael's name becomes vital; when Satan seeks to be like unto God, he must be combatted by him whose name means ‘Who is like unto God?’

166. Take hebbe as from hebban; some form of habban, while not impossible, is most unlikely.

170. Antacrist—sic MS. The commoner form (BT, p. 46) is Antecrist.

[26] That it is Michael's task to awaken the dead upon the Day of Judgment is made clear in two apocryphal texts. In the Acts of Andrew and Paul, the dead rise at the crucifixion of Peter: ‘The city shook, and the dead rose, but the Child bade them go back till Michael should raise them’ (James, p. 474).

And in the Revelation of John we read: ‘Then will I send forth mine angels, and they shall take the ram's horns that lie upon the cloud; and Michael and Gabriel shall go forth out of the heaven and sound with those horns, as the prophet Daniel foretold, with the voice of a trumpet of horn’ (ANF 8, p. 583).

The list of people who have died in various ways is based on Apocalypse 20.13: ‘And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.’ Compare the Ethiopic Apocalypse of Peter: ‘And the wild beasts and the fowls shall he command to restore all the flesh that they have devoured, because he willeth that men should appear; for nothing perisheth before God, and nothing is impossible with him, because all things are his’ (James, p. 512).

Compare also the Second Book of the Sibylline Oracles:

Then shall the great angel Uriel break the monstrous bars framed of unyielding and unbroken adamant, of the brazen gates of Hades, and cast them down straightway, and bring forth to judgment all the sorrowful forms, yea, of the ghosts of the ancient Titans, and of the giants, and all whom the flood overtook. And all whom the wave of the sea hath destroyed in the waters, and all whom beasts and creeping things and fowls have feasted on: all these shall he bring to the judgment seat; and again those whom flesh-devouring fire hath consumed in the flames, them also shall he gather and set before God's seat. (James, p. 522)

This is a late second- or third-century text which James considers is based on the Apocalypse of Peter, but it is quoted here as well as its exemplar because this later text shows that the Corpus 41 homily may have transferred to Michael a passage originally associated with Uriel.

This enumeration of possible deaths is interesting, for it permits one to add another text to the list of such passages offered by James E Cross, ‘On The Wanderer lines 80-84,’ Vetenskaps-Societetens i Lund, Arsbok (1958-59), pp. 85 ff. Cross offers a long list of parallel passages in an effort to explain the sum figure in lines 80-84 of the poem, and his list includes extracts from Old English homilies. The most interesting parallel for the Corpus 41 text is a passage from Blickling Homily 7 for Easter Day [Morris, The Blickling Homilies, pp. 82-97, and WF Bolton, An Old English Anthology, (London, 1963, 1965), pp. 102-107]. This passage associates Michael specifically with the list of ways of death:

Þonne æfter þeossum þinȝum biþ neh þæm seofoþan dæȝe, ond þonne hateþ Sanctus Michahel se heahenȝl blaƿan þa feoƿer beman æt þissum feoƿer endum middanȝeardes, ond aƿecceaþ ealle þa lichoman of deaþe, þeah þe hie ær eorþe beƿriȝen hæfde, oþþe on ƿætere adruncan, oþþe ƿildeor abiton, oþþe fuȝlas tobæron, oþþe fixas toslitan, oþþe on æniȝe ƿisan of þisse ƿorlde ȝeƿiton (Bolton, p. 106).

184. bescente; compare the Pseudo-Wulfstan text: ‘sƿa eorðe ær forsƿealh oððe fyr forbærnde and sæ besencte andƿilde deor fræton and fuȝelas tobæron’ (Arthur S Napier, Wulfstan, Berlin, 1883, 1967, p. 183).

[27] The final message of the New Testament is that judgment will be tempered with mercy, as Michael tells Enoch in the Book of Enoch 60.4-5 (Charles, p. 224). Here Michael appears in two roles, judge and merciful interceder for mankind, roles illustrated elsewhere in Corpus 41, in the homilies based on the Apocalypse of Thomas and the Gospel of Nicodemus:

Siððan hi bioð læded to þam heofone ⁊ to þam heahsetle þære halȝan Ðrinnisse, ⁊ hi bið þær demed. Þær Sanctus Michael aȝifeð þa saƿla þæra soðfæstra ⁊ þæra sinfulra. Þæt is þæt seƿealdend cƿið, ‘Syllað þa synfullan saƿla þam ȝrimman enȝ1e to cƿillenne ⁊ to bescecanne in helle’ (Corpus 41, p. 294).

Þonne arist Sanctus Michael, ⁊ he ȝæð forð, ⁊ he nihð to ussum hælende, ⁊ he bid þæt he him forȝife þone þriddan dæl þæs forƿyrhtanƿeredes. ⁊ he alifeð him ⁊ he ȝæð þonne ⁊ scætð þane þriddan dæl þæra saula; ȝeset ȝode on sƿiðran hand (Corpus 41, p. 300).

192-96. These lines are difficult to place. Their sentiments are those of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5.1-20) but there are no verbal similarities; one would prefer to compare Apocalypse 21.1-5, for after the judgment of Apocalypse 20, what would be more fitting than the mercy of Apocalypse 21? Compare especially Apocalypse 21.4:

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

196. MS he ȝerū læteð: either supply on- before -ȝerum and translate ‘he will let understanding be at large among them that teach’ or postulate a verb ȝerumlætan meaning ‘to widen,’ ‘to extend.’

[28] The final section is possibly based on the Offertory for the Mass of the Dead, which contains the words sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam; Quam olim Abrahæ promisisti, et semini ejus.

201. ðe is ambiguous; no doubt it refers to Michael rather than the Lord, since the Lord is mentioned in line 201 also—mid fæder, etc.

Other Works Consulted
Blythe, Ronald. Divine Landscapes. (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Viking, 1986).

Bolton, WF, ed. An Old English Anthology. (London: Edward Arnold, 1963, 1965).

Bond, Francis. ''Dedications and Patron Saints of English Churches. (''London: Humphrey Milford, 1914).

Campbell, Alistair. ''Old English Grammar. ''(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959, corrected reprint 1962).

Cross, James E. ‘On The Wanderer lines 80-84.’ Vetenskaps-Societetens i Lund, Arsbok (1958-59), pp. 85 ff.

Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles. The Book of Public Arms. (Edinburgh: TC & EC Jack, 1894, 2nd ed. London: TC & EC Jack, 1915).

Herzfeld, Georg(e), ed. Old English Martyrology, op. cit.

James, Montague Rhodes, ed. The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament: Their Titles and Fragments Collected, Translated and Discussed. (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1920).

Julian of Norwich. Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love. (c. 1393).

Kelley, Richard, ed. The Blickling Homilies. (New York: Continuum, 2003).

Menner, Robert J, ed. Poetical Dialogues, op. cit.

Morris, Richard, ed. & trans. The Blickling Homilies of the Tenth Century. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1874-80, reprinted 1967. EETS, OS, nos. 58, 63, and 73. Trans. reprinted Cambridge, Ontario: In parentheses Publications, Old English Series, 2000). See also Kelley, op. cit.

Napier, Arthur S, ed. Wulfstan: Sammlung der Ihm Zugeschreibenen Homilien Nebst Untersuchungen über Ihre Echtheit, Erste Abteilung: Text und Varianten. Sammlung Englischer Denkmäler in Kritischen Ausgaben 4. (Berlin, Weidmann: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1883; reprinted 1967).

Palæa, A Vassiliev, ed. Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina. (Moscow: Universitatis Caesareae [Imperial University], 1893). The Greek Palaea was a popular Bible-history of Byzantine times, and Vassiliev prints the text about the death of Moses on p. 247.

Wolters, Clifton, trans. ''Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love. (''Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1982).